Plodding

By the end of the week I was feeling tired, surly, and low on energy.  I think the hot weather is a big part of the reason: this past week was our most oppressive of the year so far.  I also have a project in the workshop that's been consuming a lot of my physical and mental energy.  My shop is not air-conditioned, and though it's well-insulated, sandwiched between the two next-door buildings and below my air-conditioned living space, I've been less than comfortable down there while tackling this project that involves some heavy lifting.

By Friday the temperature was as high as 97 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was through the roof.  With very little enthusiasm I headed down to the river and got in the boat.  The workout was simple enough: four sets of (6 minutes at 60 strokes per minute/4 min. at 64 spm/3 min. at 68 spm/2 min. at 72 spm).  There was a minute rest between pieces and two minutes between sets.  I actually did just three and a half sets because I took a break to chase a few barge wakes.  The surfing turned out to be fair, not great.

Some thunderstorms came through Friday afternoon, and there was some slightly cooler air behind it.  Yesterday morning the temperature was in the 80s and still pretty humid.  I went out and did six 250-meter pieces, starting every 6th minute.  The main purpose was to focus on taking good forward strokes: Maks said "stay upright, stay strong, anchor well."  The prescribed stroke rate was in the "A3" zone (90 spm or higher), and I tried to keep it in the low 90s.  The workout wasn't too taxing, all told; the first couple of pieces seemed the hardest, maybe because I wasn't completely warmed up for higher-intensity efforts.

Today's assignment was a 2-hour "non-specific" endurance session, so I rode my bike on the Greenline out to Shelby Farms, where I did a loop around Patriot Lake before returning.  My total distance  covered was 36.4 kilometers or about 22.6 miles--not bad for my clunky low-tech mountain bike.  The ride almost didn't happen because when I went to get my bike out of the garage I discovered its rear tire was flat.  I had a spare tube and fixing the problem wasn't really that hard, but with all the other work I've had to do lately it almost felt like one chore too many.

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